Cheesesteak Review #35: Jim’s Steaks of Philadelphia (West Philly)

Throughout the Philadelphia area Jim’s is synonymous for steaks. They have a few different locations. Jim’s Steaks can be found in the Northeast, West Philly, Springfield and on South Street. The subject of this review will be the Jim’s Steaks located in West Philly on North 62nd Avenue. As normal I ordered a plain steak with provolone and fried onions.

Bread-The bread with this cheesesteak was subpar. It wasn’t the freshest and it was just a little too gummy for my liking. The taste was just OK but that’s about all. I’m almost assuming that since I went on a weekend the bread was probably from Friday sometime and just left over from the day before.

Cheese-The cheese was really tasty. They only put a whole bunch of cheese on the bottom of the roll and then just threw the meat and onions on top. If you have read any of my past reviews you will know that I am not a fan of this practice.

Meat-The meat was pretty disappointing. Even though the quality of it was pretty decent, it had no taste. It definitely could of just used some salt and pepper as seasoning. It was cut up in to small pieces which is a plus but I really can’t get over the fact that it might have been some of the most bland tasting meat I have eveeatenr .

Amount-The amount is the only thing to save this cheesesteak. They included a ton of meat and the roll itself was filled to its max. The roll was no different than most places as it was a typical 10 inch roll. There was a ton of cheese included in the cheesesteak even though it was just placed on the bottom of the bun. The amount of onions included was pretty proportional to the rest of the ingredients. In all the amount of everything was perfect.

Fried Onions-The fried onions included were very plentiful and fried to a nice texture. However my only complaint was that they were way to large. It they diced them up just a little bit I would have enjoyed them 10 times more. Other than the fact that they were just thrown on the sandwich at its completion they were pretty tasty and I don’t really have anything else to say about them.

The cheesesteak at Jim’s Steaks was a little above average. I wish the meat was a little more flavorful because I probably would have given them a 4 out of 5, but oh well. I’d like to try the other locations to see if they are any different so maybe some day I will and maybe one of the other locations will come in at a higher score than Jim’s located in West Philly. Other than cheesesteaks their menu is pretty limited. However they do have beer to go.

This location is the original Jim’s, and was my childhood neighborhood favorite. My Dad swore by them. The client base is as loyal as you’ll find anywhere, but I left West Philly more than 30 years ago, and the old crew of cooks have long faded away.